May we never forget the diggers of Lark Force

I first heard the story of Arthur Turner - my mum’s cousin, who went missing in action in New Guinea during the war - as a kid.

I first heard the story of Arthur Turner when I was a kid. Arthur was mum’s cousin, reported missing in action in New Guinea during the war. I thought the story mum told me about him was sad, but I didn’t really connect with it until later in life.

He was born in Fitzroy in 1913. By the time he was 19 both his parents had died, and Arthur and his 16-year-old sister Marie were awarded custody of their four younger siblings. In the 1930s, Arthur put himself through night school to become an accountant while working at the Melbourne Herald. The story goes that the newspaper would give him sixpence for tram fares to run errands; he would pocket the money and ride his bicycle instead. The wider family were so proud of Arthur and Marie; to the younger kids they were heroes, protectors. They held the family together.

In June 1940, Arthur volunteered to join the army, thinking he would fight Rommel in North Africa. Instead, within a year he was posted to Rabaul on New Britain, part of New Guinea, to help monitor and defend the outermost reaches of Australian mandated territory. Known as Lark Force, the garrison consisted of 1400 men, mostly Victorians.

Early in January 1942, Rabaul was bombed by the Japanese in preparation for invasion. Arthur wrote to Marie during this time; in his surviving letters he warned that the war was closer than many down south realised. But he signed off reassuringly, “Cheerio & love to all.”

A 5000-strong Japanese invasion force landed on January 23. The Australians, given the order “every man for himself”, scattered to the hills in groups. Arthur was last sighted by his sergeant at Kasalea police station, 100km south of Rabaul, in early February. There were reports of machine-gun fire the next day, locals reporting that three Australians had died. Stragglers were rounded up and taken to nearby Tol Plantation. It is unclear whether Arthur was shot at Kasalea or whether his fate was sealed at Tol. I hope it was the former.

What happened at Tol Plantation on February 4, 1942 should tear at the heart and soul of every Australian. Some 160 members of Lark Force who had either surrendered or been captured were mercilessly slaughtered. Six men escaped by feigning death, including Private Billy Cook. Bayonetted 11 times, he crawled into the jungle bleeding profusely, but survived and eventually made it home. It is only from the accounts of Cook and his mates that we know the truth of what happened at Tol.

Groups of up to 10 men at a time were trussed together with rope and marched into the jungle, where they were shot or bayonetted or both. Some prayed, some begged for their lives; some said “cheerio” to their mates. Two escapees from Tol took refuge at neighbouring Waitavalo Plantation, where a week later they were discovered by the Japanese. According to witnesses they were smeared with pig grease and locked in a hut, which was set alight.

Private Arthur Lawrence Turner is listed as having died at Tol Plantation. His adoring sister Marie only ever knew he was missing in action; it wasn’t until 1988 that the truth came out with the official release of first-hand accounts. Marie was traumatised by Arthur’s disappearance. A tall, striking woman who never married, never had children, she devoted her life to the care of others. She never spoke of the war. Upon her death, family members found an unopened box in her Gippsland home. It was Arthur’s medals.

I hope that in Arthur’s final moments he had a love to remember and a God to pray to. I know he had a loving family to think of. May we never forget the diggers of Lark Force and the atrocities they endured.